In the present-day Shanxi province, there are many steles from the Northern Dynasties period featuring a mixture of Daoist and Buddhist images on their four sides. These steles, rarely found in other areas of the same period, show a particular religious characteristic of this area during the Northern Dynasties period. Many of them were constructed according to the vows made by the so-called Yiyi, an association of lay followers with monastics as their leaders. This article attempts to further the discussion on the issue of Yiyi as well as the regionality of the sculptures. The issue of the religious identity of the sculptures used to be addressed in a very vague way. But in fact, the Daoist or Buddhist identity of Yishi, advisor of Yiyi, can be known according to the religious identity of the principal deity facing the south. We are then able to differentiate the Daoism-dominant Daofo sculptures 道佛像 from the Buddhism-dominant Fodao sculptures 道佛像. The number of these steles changed greatly between the Northern Wei period and Western Wei/Northern Zhou period. Furthermore, through a detailed analysis of the position titles for certain members of the Yiyi inscribed in the Buddhist and Daoist steles, the following conclusion can be drawn: 1. The position titles for certain members of the Yiyi differ according to the date, or the dominance of religion. 2.In the Northern Wei period, the number of Daoism-dominant Yiyi rivaled that of Buddhism-dominant Yiyi. But in Northern Zhou period, the Buddhismdominant Fodao sculptures much outnumbered its counterpart.
